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  • Essay / Historical and Literary Elements of The Ballad of Birmingham

    Dudley Randall was a poet from Detroit, Michigan who contributed to African American poetry with numerous works, including "Ballad of Birmingham." The Birmingham church bombing occurred on September 15, 1963, at the 16th Street Baptist Church. It was a church with a “predominantly black congregation that also served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders.” Unfortunately, during the attack, many people were injured and four young girls died. These four girls were: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair. The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, the third attack in eleven days, was entirely due to the integration of Alabama's schools. Dudley Randall uses both historical facts and literary dramatizations in the poem "Ballad of Birmingham" to describe and narrate the events and feelings in the context of a mother and her daughter during the bombing. bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Say no. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Randall wrote his poem with many details, some of which were based on fact and could be confirmed by sources. For example, the location in the poem Birmingham, Alabama where it says "And walk the streets of Birmingham" is based on fact and could be confirmed by many sources. Another detail written by Randall that is factual is when he states, "For dogs are fierce and wild/And clubs and pipes, guns and prisons." Many sources describe the violence and dangers that could occur during these nonviolent demonstrations for equality. For example, a Stanford University article states: "Over the next few days, images of children being shot by high-pressure fire hoses, bludgeoned by police officers, and attacked by police dogs appeared on television and in the newspapers, sparking international outrage.” Finally, another detail that Randall believes could be confirmed is the line describing the devastated mother lifting a shoe from her daughter: "Then I pulled out a shoe/'O, here's the shoe my baby wore, But, baby , where are you?' '”. According to CNN, an editor named Gene Patterson wrote an entire column about this shoe: “A black mother cried in the street Sunday morning outside a Birmingham Baptist church. In her hand she held a shoe, a shoe, from the foot of her dead child. We hold this shoe with her. » In addition to factual details, Randall also wrote details in his poem that did not appear to be based on confirmed facts. For example, in his poem, Randall wrote: "She combed and brushed her black hair,/And bathed in soft rose petals/And drew white gloves on her little brown hands,/And white shoes on her feet." . Another example was: “But that smile was the last smile / to appear on his face.” These two details cannot, however, be confirmed by the facts; these lines help develop communication and a stronger connection with the reader and help them imagine a more complete vision. These fictionalized materials also enhance the description of the poem's actual events. The first example again is: “She combed and brushed her night-black hair,/And bathed in soft rose petals/And drew white gloves on her little brown hands,/And white shoes on her feet” . This textual evidence improves the description because these lines are a more peaceful part of the story than the.